Conventionally such apparatus comprises a frame pendantly supporting a cattle crush or a sheep, pig or calf crate. The difference between the loads exerted on the frame when the livestock is, or is not, located in the crush or crate being measured to give the weight of the animal. It has been proposed to measure this load electrically using an electrical load cell.
A major disadvantage of such known equipment is the need to have the animal hanging from a supporting frame. The frame increases the cost and weight of the apparatus making it more difficult to move the apparatus from one location to another and the pendant support of the crush or crate means that movements of the animal within the crush or crate perturb the accurate assessment of the weight, making such assessment difficult and time-consuming.
A further disadvantage of the known equipment is the need to level it prior to a weighing operation to ensure that the pendantly-supported crush or crate does not bear against the supporting frame.